Barcelona Day 5: Webber hints at Red Bull’s potential

Mark Webber headed the fifth day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, after Sergio Perez’s fastest lap was deleted for cutting a chicane.

Webber’s best lap came in the morning during a qualifying simulation, when the track was still damp. At that point, he was up to two seconds faster than anyone else on track.

A strange addition to Button's McLaren

Jenson Button ran with a strange addition to the nosecone, and was 0.3 seconds behind the Red Bull. His day was spoilt by being forced to abandon a race simulation, losing him up to 50 laps.

Vitaly Petrov took over from an unwell Nick Heidfeld, who had a cold. Petrov was 3rd, several hundreths behind Button. Perez was in the top 5 all day long, and ended up 4th. With a few minutes to go, a shock time of 1.21.176 propelled him to the top, 1.4 seconds faster than Webber. However, the live timing revealed he had gained two full seconds in the final sector by cutting a chicane, and the lap was removed.

Nick Heidfeld was 5th, after dropping out after 20 laps. Paul di Resta was 6th for Force India, while Lotus tested Davide Valsecchi. He managed 50 laps, and was 2.8 seconds off the fastest time, although he spun into the gravel in the afternoon.

Sebastien Buemi was 8th, and Nico Hulkenberg 9th. Luiz Razia shared the Lotus car with Valsecchi, but was 6.5 seconds off the pace.

Jerome D’Ambrosio did not set a competitive lap time, but set 57 laps and was in and out of the pits all day long.